Discussion:
I live in Alaska.When my son was in Iraq he took a photo of another soldier.The picture was real popular with every one and got passed around.After he returned from Iraq he had the photo copyrighted by the library of congress.Unknown to him the picture is on a military site free for use and cedited to some one else.In the mean time a magazine here in the U.S. has a full page ad using his picture.The company knows my son has the copyright to the picture and contiues to use his picture.What rights does my son have and what should he do?
Answer:
I live in Alaska.When my son was in Iraq he took a photo of another soldier.The picture was real popular with every one and got passed around.After he returned from Iraq he had the photo copyrighted by the library of congress.Unknown to him the picture is on a military site free for use and cedited to some one else.In the mean time a magazine here in the U.S. has a full page ad using his picture.The company knows my son has the copyright to the picture and contiues to use his picture.What rights does my son have and what should he do? What was your son's job in Iraq? If his job (or part of his job) was to do photography for the U.S., then the picture belongs to the public domain, regardless of his copyright registration.
If he was not a photographer, or was not asked to take photos as part of his job, then he may have rights to the photos. He should take all of the information he has down to a local attorney, who can review all of the relevant facts and advise your son accordingly.